Speech at the 10th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy YANG Jianli Feb. 20, 2018, Geneva It’s wonderful to see so many old and new friends here at the 10th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, and it is an honor to speak at the gathering again this year. And I am proud that my organization, Initiatives for China/ Citizen Power, is a partner of the Geneva Summit. The camaraderie, and the sharing of experiences and strategies at this Summit has always given me hope, even during the darkest days of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) autocratic rule. Dr. Yang talks about Mr. Wang Quanzhang on Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and the 20th anniversary of China’s signing of the International...

Citizen power for China (a.k.a. Initiatives for China) holds “Head Shaving for Liu Xia” event in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC on March 7, attracting almost 30 activists and supporters from Washington and New York. The event echos a similar one in Hong Kong by the newly established “Care for Liu Xia’s Freedom” group. Chinese Embassy, March 7, 2014 The 2010 Nobel Peace Laurent Liu Xiaobo’s wife Liu Xia has been under illegal house arrest since October 2010. In the last three and half years, her health has been deteriorated. Citizen Power for China (Initiatives for China), and other human rights groups have been working hard to call global attention to her case, and yet have not achieved any major breakthrough due to the restricted control of the Chinese authorities. Liu Xia has an image of...

UN Watch hosts Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy Geneva, Switzerland – On February 25th, the 2014 6th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, organized by UN Watch, co-sponsored by twenty-two other human rights groups including Citizen Power for China (CPFC, aka Initiatives for China), was held in the Geneva International Conference Center across from the United Nations. The Summit was opened by Professor Irwin Cotler, MP of Canadian Parliament, and a world voice for human rights. The 6th Geneva Summit, organized by UN Watch, is a civil society forum designed to inform and enhance the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council. Renowned dissidents, formal political prisoners, rights activists and experts gathered to urge an end to impunity for rights abusers, support pro-democracy dissidents world wide, and issue a call for action. Arranged by UN Watch, conference speakers, including...

View Video: China tries to silence former political prisoner Yang Jianli GENEVA, March 15 – The Chinese government today interrupted testimony by one of its most well-known former political prisoners in the plenary of the UN Human Rights Council. The Chinese delegate, supported by Cuba, objected that Dr. Yang Jianli, who spoke on behalf of the Geneva human rights group UN Watch, was not addressing the issue under debate, which was “human rights situations that require the council’s attention.” The U.S. delegate intervened to defend Dr. Yang’s right to speak, and the council president allowed him to complete his speech. See full text below of print version as delivered to the UN. ### UN Watch Oral Statement Delivered by Dr. Yang Jianli UN Human Rights Council, 16th Session Agenda Item 4: “Human Rights Situations that require the council’s attention” Thank...

SPEECH by Dr. Yang Jianli Geneva, March 15, 2011 Good afternoon fellow delegates and distinguished guests. Thank you for the opportunity to address you here today. I am compelled to begin with a call for a moment of silence for the Japanese people, whose unimaginable suffering continues. Their suffering speaks to our common humanity and to our recognition that their suffering is our suffering. (Moment of Silence) The nations of the world are providing assistance to the Japanese people, collectively working to help Japan regain its physical well being. Unfortunately, we are here today because our collective response to willful destruction of the human spirit by the tyrannies of the world is not the same as our collective response to natural disaster. Please allow me to present this situation, and appeal for help; since late February, the Chinese Government...

Yang Jianli, the world-renowned Chinese dissident and survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, will join other former prisoners of conscience March 15-16 for the third annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Dr. Yang, who served a five-year jail term in China for his social activism, will speak about the situation of jailed writer Liu Xiaobo, whom he represented at the Oslo Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December. The Chinese government has been criticized by human rights groups and the U.S. State Department for gross and systematic violations of basic rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion, and for oppressing minority groups. Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist was sentenced to 11 years in prison last year for “inciting subversion of state power.” His receipt...